Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Youth Assembly hosted the participants from Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (WCFIA), Harvard University. The participants were involved in ‘The Fellows Program’ of WCFIA and characteristically selected among high-profiled business professionals, diplomats, bureaucrat and so on. The fellows have begun their visit in Istanbul and were accompanied by the Boston Turkish Culture Center and the Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey.

The delegation has left Boston for Istanbul last week. On 9th of May, we have met with them and held a youth panel in the headquarters of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The event was launched by a high level discussion on Turkish politics and the very hot topics of the international affairs such as Turkey’s accession to the European Union, the relations of Turkey with Iran, Turkey’s particular role in between the Middle East and Europe etc… from the vantage point of youth. Since the fellows were of a highly diversified origins, the panel has suddenly turned out to be an international multi-disciplinary brainstorming session. Then another presentation about ‘Istanbul: The European Capital of Culture, 2010′ was given out upon the request.

After ending the session, we walked through the way down to Süleymaniye Mosque. As IYA, we’ve hosted our guests in Darüzziyafe Restaurant for lunch and further deepened the ties and engaged in an enthusiastic interaction with the fellows. The main stream of the discussions has tapped into topics such as the daily issues, geo-political affairs, history, economics and so forth.

Close to the end of the program, we have shared our best wishes with the fellows and ended up with exchanging our contacts. A picture in memory of this warm meeting was also taken and the parties bid a farewell to each other. Everyone was smiling while we’re wandering around the shuttle and that was one of the most remarkable moment for all of us…

Istanbul Youth Assembly had organized a breakfast with the participation of representatives of Gaye Foundation, a Balkan students’ association, in May 9. The breakfast had started with the information given to Gaye Foundation members about the assembly and the commission. The members of Istanbul Youth Assembly had stated the importance of the breakfasts organized under the name of “Breakfasts of Fellowship”. Then, Bünyamin Gezer, the head of public relation of Gaye Foundation, had referred to the importance of such breakfast and gave information about Gaye Foundation. Thebreakfast continued with the mutual questions and answers. Then, the breakfast was completed with photo taking and gift giving.

Istanbul Youth Assembly Foreign Affairs Comission continue meetings with the Consulates. Last week the Consulates of Switzerland and Egypt were visited. The Consul General of Egypt Mrs. Iman Mostafa and the Consul General of Switzerland Mr. Ernst Balzli extended indeed hospitality to us. Introduction of the Assembly and the projects of the Comission created deep interest to our works. We asserted the importance of meeting and sustainable coordination with their youth organizations and they answered that they will glad to asist us with our projects and any organization. Mrs Mostafa presented the first book for our “Library of Civilizations Project”, the book is about history of Islamic arts and Mr Balzli presented many introductory documents and dvds of Switzerland in such languages. After denoting our appreciation for their hosting, we agreed to keep in touch, the meetings ended with the wishes of meeting again soon.

Sampaio was born in Lisbon on 18 September 1939. The Sampaio family lived abroad in the United States and the United Kingdom for some years, due to the professional activity of his father Arnaldo de Sampaio (1908 – 1984), a Medical Doctor. His mother was Fernanda Bensaúde Branco (1908 – Lisbon, 15 February 2000). His maternal grandmother Sara Bensliman Bensaúde, who died in 1976, was a of Sephardi Jew from Morocco of Portuguese origin, and his maternal grandfather Fernando Branco (1880 – 1940) was a Naval Officer of the Portuguese Navy and later the Foreign Minister of Portugal; Sampaio himself is agnostic, and does not consider himself a Jew.[1] He started his political career as college student of the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon. Jorge Sampaio was involved in the student contestation against the fascist regime and was leader of the Lisbon students union between 1960 and 1961. Following his graduation in 1961, Jorge Sampaio started a notable career as a lawyer, often involved in the defence of many political prisoners.

He married firstly a medical doctor named Karin Schmidt Dias, daughter of António Jorge Dias (Porto, 31 July 1907 – Lisbon, 5 February 1973) and wife German Margot Schmidt. The couple had no issue and later divorced. He married secondly Maria José Rodrigues Ritta (b. Lisbon, 19 December 1941), daughter of José António Ritta and wife Maria José Rodrigues Xavier and sister of Maria Ermelinda and José António, by whom he had two children: Vera Ritta de Sampaio (b. 1977) and André Ritta de Sampaio (b. 1981).

After the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, Sampaio funded Movimento de Esquerda Socialista (MES) (Portugueseacronym for Socialist Left Movement) but abandoned the political project soon after. In 1978 he joined PS, the Socialist Party, where he remains to present day. His first election as a deputy for Lisbon in the Portuguese National Parliament is in 1979. Between this year and 1984, he was a member of the European Commission for Human Rights, where he developed important work on these topics. Between 1986 and 1987 he was president of the parliamentary bench of the Socialist Party. In 1989, he was elected president of this political group, an office he held until 1991. Also in 1989, Jorge Sampaio was elected the 62nd Mayor of Lisbon, charge he took in 1990, and re-elected in 1993, remaining in office until 1995.

In 1995, Jorge Sampaio announced his wish to run for the presidency of the Republic. He won the election of 14 January 1996 in the first round against Aníbal Cavaco Silva, the former prime-minister by then, and became president on 9 March. After a non-controversial first mandate, he was re-elected as President on 14 January 2001.

As President, Sampaio’s actions were focused on social and cultural affairs. In the international political scene, he oversaw the return of Macau to China in December 1999 and he also gave important publicity to the cause of East Timor‘s independence.

It is generally considered that Sampaio’s presidency were marked by a firm sense of prudence and moderation, an approach which earned him a remarkably uneventful first term in office. In 2004, however, his refusal to hold early elections following Social DemocratPrime MinisterJosé Manuel Durão Barroso‘s resignation met with vigorous protest from all left-wing parties and even led to the stepping down of Socialist leader Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues. Sampaio made this decision to ensure political stability at a time when the country was facing economic recession, and he appointed Pedro Santana Lopes as Prime Minister. However, only four months afterwards, on 30 November, Sampaio concluded that the new cabinet was not achieving the desired stability, but quite the opposite, and he therefore dissolved the Parliament, calling new elections for February 2005.

On 24 February 2005, Sampaio called on José Sócrates, as the nation’s next prime minister, to form a government.

Istanbul Youth Assembly, Commission of Foreign Affairs organized a breakfast with the participation of the representatives of Syriac Associations and the members of the Commission of Foreign Affairs at Florya Social Facilities in April 24, 2010. İlhan Güzeliş as the official representative and regional chairmans with their members attended the breakfast. After the opening speech of the chairman of the Commission of the Foreign Affairs, Zeyd Böhürler, council member Ahmet Safa Develioğlu made a speech about the Youth Assembly and its completed and on-going projects. Purpose of this breakfast was explained. Then, commission member İrem Cansu Yıldız made a presentation about the history and aims of the Youth Council andCommission of Foreign Affairs. After the speeches and presentations, the breakfast started. Syriac Association Board Member İlhan Güzeliş explained his happiness with the breakfast and gave information about Syriac Association. The breakfast continued with the mutual questions and answers. Participants discussed about how to reach a better collaboration. The two parties expressed their willingness to be in contact. Then, the breakfast was completed with photo taking and gifts of IYA.

In 15 April 2010, İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Youth Assembly, the Commission of the Foreign Affairs has met with UK Consul General Jessica Hand. In the meeting of UK Consulate, the chairman of the Commission Zeyd Böhürler, the divan member Ahmet Safa Develioğlu and the commission member Sevinç Özçelik have joined. During the meeting, the members gave information about the Assembly and also talked about the current projects that the commission has focused on. The UK Consul General has listened to the Assembly and the projects with a great excitement. Ms. Hand had offered some new ideas about the projects especially about restoration and the protection of history. At the end, she wished everything best for the Commission of the Foreign Affairs. The members promised to visit General Consul again with new projects in order to make them with the support of UK Consulate.

İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Youth Assembly, the Commission of the Foreign Affairs has communicated with the consulates and has met with Consuls General. The appointments have been taking place. The aim of the meetings is to give information about the Youth Assemly, the projects done and the projects that are continuing on. On the other hand, the Commission gets information about their (countries whose Consulates visited) cultures and about the youth organizations in Consuls own countries. Thus, the Commission wants to generate an infrastructure in order to arrange new projects together with different youth from different countries. Until 15 April 2010, Commission of the Foreign Affairs have met with Germany, USA, Austria, Belgium, France, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Macedonia, Russia Consulates. Wait for the next Consulate meetings.